How SID is different from Service name in Oracle tnsnames.ora

Question

Why do I need two of them? When I have to use one or another?

Answer 1

I know this is ancient however when dealing with finicky tools, uses, users or symptoms re: sid & service naming one can add a little flex to your tnsnames entries as like:

mySID, mySID.whereever.com =
(DESCRIPTION =
  (ADDRESS_LIST =
    (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = myHostname)(PORT = 1521))
  )
  (CONNECT_DATA =
    (SERVICE_NAME = mySID.whereever.com)
    (SID = mySID)
    (SERVER = DEDICATED)
  )
)

I just thought I'd leave this here as it's mildly relevant to the question and can be helpful when attempting to weave around some less than clear idiosyncrasies of oracle networking.